An Unknown Love
by bookstoreromantic
Summary: Charming finds Snow White following the events of 1x10. She, in turn, hits him in the head with a bucket. One-shot.


Characters: Snow White, Prince Charming, Grumpy

Description: Charming finds Snow White following the events of 1x10. She, in turn, hits him in the head with a bucket. One-shot.

An Unknown Love

Snow White was humming to herself and drawing water from the well when she saw a man emerge from the tree line. Choosing to feign ignorance, she kept her back mostly to him, pulling the heavy bucket up and setting it on the wall. She stopped humming so she could hear him approach, listening for more footsteps in the underbrush. None came. He was alone.

"Snow?"

She tensed. She didn't know the voice, though it sent shivers down her spine. He was close to her now, almost within arm's reach. There would almost certainly be others nearby. Her step-mother's men always hunted in packs.

With a scream she prayed the dwarves would hear she lifted the bucket and spun around, knocking him in the head with it. He fell hard, sputtering, and she was on him in an instant, ripping his sword from its scabbard. A voice in the back of her mind questioned why, if he was after her heart, he hadn't drawn it to begin with. She held the blade to his throat, a foot on his chest.

Strange, he wasn't dressed like any of the queen's men.

"Snow, it's me!" He pressed a hand to where the bucket had struck and tried to sit up, but she forced him to stay down. "Snow, give the sword back, it's me." Concern flickered across his face. "It's James."

"Snow!" She turned her head to see Grumpy running into the clearing. "Are you alright?"

"This man knew who I was," she said, loud enough so any others lurking could hear. "There may be others about."

Grumpy looked down at the man on the ground. "He doesn't look like any of the queen's men," he grunted.

"That's because I'm not! Snow, let me up. I just want to talk."

She shook her head. "You speak as if you know me."

Grumpy looked from her to the man under her foot. "You Prince James?" he asked abruptly. The man nodded. The dwarf sighed. "I knew you'd come at some point," he muttered, almost to himself. "Snow, let him up."

She hesitated, but stepped back. The man, Prince James, sat up and rubbed at his head. She watched him warily as he stood up and offered her the empty bucket in exchange for his sword. Glancing at Grumpy for confirmation, she handed it over and went back to the well to replace the water she had dumped on his head.

"Come on, Doc'll get you something for that bump."

James hesitated. "But –"

"Did you see any of the queen's soldiers on your way here?" He shook his head. "Then she'll be fine. But you and I need to talk."

Reluctantly he slid the sword back into its sheathe and motioned for the dwarf to lead the way. Snow watched them go, wondering why a prince would even think to come looking for her at the dwarves' cottage. Or why he would come looking for her at all.

"I'm sorry I hit you with the bucket!" she called after them.

They both turned and he smiled at her. "I would expect nothing less!"

She grinned inexplicably at his remark and knew that she needed to know more about this charming, mysterious prince.

– – –

Eavesdropping, of course, was the only solution. Snow was quick to refill the bucket and she made her way back to the cottage as quickly as she could without spilling most of it. Setting it down as she came within earshot, she crouched low and hid just beneath one of the ground floor windows.

"I don't understand. How is it possible?" The brokenness in his voice startled her.

"We found her on the road headed away from the palace, saying she had lost you and clutching a potion that would take all her pain away."

"But she never lost me! She's the one who said we couldn't be together."

Snow risked peeking through the window and saw that the prince was sitting with his back to her, a poultice pressed to his head.

"Look, ask your dad if you want to know what happened when he took her into custody. But I can tell you that whatever it was hurt her so bad she couldn't stand it." Grumpy came into view, shaking his head, and she ducked back down. "If she could have stayed with the pain for one more day… I heard you'd cancelled the wedding the day she drank the damn thing. She loved you but I'm sorry, she's gone."

Her head buzzed at her friend's words. Was it possible? Had she loved and lost so completely that she'd turned to magic to make her forget? She'd always known love would be devastating. She guarded her heart closely – and not just from her step-mother's vengeance.

She tried to remember the details of the night she had met the dwarves. She remembered escaping from the jail and bargaining for Grumpy's life after Stealthy was killed by the guards. She remembered meeting with the king about… what?

Was it true then? Was she really… gone?

A clap of thunder startled her and she jumped, rushing to retrieve the bucket and get inside before the rain started. Setting the water on the ground, she took off her cloak and ran over to shut the window, aware of the eyes on her.

She latched the shutters and turned around to face them. "I guess you're staying for dinner!"

Her eyes fell on him. Had she really loved him?

– – –

It was the most uncomfortable dinner that she had ever had to sit through.

She kept busy preparing the meal, but had taken a few minutes to clean up and change before serving. A little nervous, she had introduced herself properly – as one should to a prince – and he'd chuckled and complimented her on her curtsy. When she apologized for a third time about the bucket he rubbed the scar on his chin and told her it was nothing. Other than that he didn't speak much. She had neither the opportunity nor the courage to ask him what she most wanted to know.

The dwarves watched her constantly for any sign of something amiss. But it was all amiss, wasn't it? Having dinner with a man she'd loved but didn't know? What was right about that? What was right about her?

Her royal experience in empty conversation proved useful and she filled the awkwardness by chattering pleasantly with the dwarves about their mining exploits and the many virtues of her rabbit stew. She tried not to stare at him. She knew he watched her when he thought she wasn't looking. Sometimes she was able to catch his gaze but he always looked away. She wished he wouldn't, though if she had lied and broken his heart she couldn't really blame him. Still, his eyes held her.

The storm still raging outside brought her both relief and anxiety. He would have to stay the night.

Snow rose to clear the dishes as soon as everyone was finished. He brought his bowl over to her along with those of several other dwarves and she bumped into him, not realizing he was right behind her. They both froze at the contact. Snow wondered if he could hear her heart pounding over the storm.

"I'm sorry," he offered, putting the dishes down on the counter.

"Oh no, don't worry about it. Thank you," she said, slipping the bowls into the wash basin.

"Do you need any help?"

_Yes!_ She wanted to scream. _What did I do?_ Instead she smiled at him. "Thank you but I'm alright. I'm used to cleaning up after seven, what's one more?"

He stepped away and Doc guided him to the other room so he could take another look at the bump she had given him. Snow set herself to washing as Grumpy brought his bowl up for her.

"You heard us talking, didn't you?"

She dropped the bowl back into the basin and turned to look at her friend. "Is it true?"

He crossed his arms over his chest but looked her in the eye. "You said he was Prince Charming."

She bit her lip, watching the doorway that James and Doc had disappeared through. "Grumpy, what do I do?" she whispered.

"I don't know princess."

– – –

Snow couldn't sleep. She had thought herself strong for so long. Now her mind was filled with thoughts of a love so powerful it had broken her. She had to know what had happened between them, why he had come looking for her.

She crept out of bed and past the snoring dwarves. He had laid out a sleeping roll near the fire but was still awake, watching the dying flames. He heard her when she reached the bottom of the stairs and she searched for something to say.

"I don't remember you."

"I've figured that out, thanks." He looked up as she flinched and sighed. "I'm sorry."

She didn't respond, but moved closer as he sat up. "I… I remember _around_ you. I think."

James shook his head. "I don't know what that means."

She pressed her lips together. "Me neither. But I know I went to the castle because I remember meeting Grumpy in jail, and forcing the guards to let him go, and I remember talking with the king. I just can't remember why I was there in the first place."

He regarded her for a moment before reaching into his pocket and taking out a folded piece of paper. "This is why," he said, handing it to her.

Snow sat down on the opposite end of the roll and unfolded the note, squinting to read it in the dim light. "I thought it went badly," she said finally.

He took the letter back from her and folded it back up, tucking it away. The motion was familiar to her somehow. "It did. You said there was no place for us to be together, and that you didn't – and would never – love me. Then you left."

Snow looked down at her hands in her lap, ashamed to be pushing him for painful details that she didn't remember. Memories she had chosen to forget. But she wasn't ashamed enough to stop. "I remember the king saying he would kill someone if I didn't say those things. But he couldn't have meant you, that doesn't make any sense."

James gave a short, bitter laugh. "Yes, it does." She looked at him, puzzled. "I'm not his son."

"I thought you were Prince Charming?"

He smiled. "You named me that."

"I did? When?"

He told her the story of how they met, and more pieces started to click into place. More holes in her memory that she hadn't thought to question. She remembered selling stolen jewels to the trolls only to have to get them back, and she remembered using the dark fairy dust to save someone else. She just couldn't remember who, and it had never occurred to her before that that was strange.

Snow could tell that he grew more relaxed as he told the story of their adventure. He even gave her a grin when telling how she had pushed him into the river. It sent shivers down her spine. When he showed her the ring they had retrieved, she knew there was something familiar about it and had to stop herself from plucking it out of his grasp so she could put it on and see if maybe she remembered. But in his story the ring hadn't been for her.

"Tell me something I didn't know about you before," she begged.

His face grew serious. "I didn't use to be a prince. James was my twin, one I didn't know I had until a few months ago. We were shepherds, and my parents gave one of their sons away in a deal to save the farm. But James died and King George needed a dragon-slayer. And then he needed someone to marry Midas' daughter."

"A marriage alliance. Short-sighted, but typical." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Midas' kingdom is rich, but barren," Snow explained. "His touch of gold didn't pass to Abigail and there's no reason to believe it would pass to a male grandchild of his. As soon as Midas dies, the gold will start to run out, and within a few generations your kingdom would be just as poor but shackled to one even poorer." She smiled at his expression and shrugged. "I used to be a princess. Didn't I tell you that?"

He shook his head. "So, the queen?"

"My step-mother. Did you really kill a dragon?"

"It was mostly luck."

"It usually is." A silence fell between them. Snow watched him spin the ring on the tip of his finger and wished she could remember. Wished there was something she could say that would soothe what had happened that night and ease the strangeness between them. But of course there would be strangeness; he was a stranger to her. She wished that he wasn't.

"Why did you come find me if I said all those things?"

"I told you I would always find you," he said quietly, as if that were explanation enough.

It wasn't, but somehow it also was. "I'm sorry I drank the potion."

"Me too." He closed his eyes and put the ring back away.

She reached out to him cautiously, knowing she had no right to. He didn't look over at her nor did he say anything, but his hand squeezed hers so tight she thought he was never going to let go. She realized she didn't want him to.

Snow inched over so that she was sitting next to him before the fire. He didn't move away. She wondered if he loved her enough to start again from the beginning but dismissed the thought. She already knew. He had found her, after all.


End file.
